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PORTLAND, OREGON-May 12, 2014--The Portland Winterhawks lost, 4-2, to the Edmonton Oil Kings, who won the Western Hockey League championship at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Portland Monday. Winterhawks Nicolas Petan (19) with teammates after the loss. Photo by Randy L. Rasmussen/The Oregonian

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After reaching the WHL finals in a season they weren’t supposed to be contenders, after being left for dead early in the best-of-seven series, after having the Ed Chynoweth Cup in their grasp only to let it slip away in agonizing fashion — after all of that and then a rough start to Game 7 Monday night — somehow, incredibly, remarkably, the Edmonton Oil Kings are once again WHL champions.

A compelling series that never failed to surprise concluded in fittingly unexpected fashion at Veterans Memorial Coliseum, with the visiting Oil Kings defeating the defending champion Portland Winterhawks 4-2 to win the series 4-3 and clinch the league championship and a Memorial Cup berth for the second time in three seasons.

“We weren’t picked to get a round or two, but our leadership group’s been outstanding and you look at the guys in our dressing room, it’s a team,” Oil Kings coach Derek Laxdal said, glancing around the ice as his team celebrated moments after being presented with the cup. “They’re as a solid as a rock, they battle for each other, there’s a lot of love in that dressing room.”

Mads Eller, Curtis Lazar, Mitch Moroz, and Reid Petryk scored for the Oil Kings who trailed 1-0 early, but turned the game around with four unanswered goals in the second period in an emphatic bounce-back after blowing a 5-2 lead and losing 6-5 in overtime at Rexall Place on Sunday.

“This morning we said the sun’s going to come up, I can guarantee the sun’s going to come up, I can guarantee the energy’s going to come up in our group,“ said Laxdal. “Obviously there were flashbacks to last night for our kids on their mind and we weren’t sitting back we were pushing for it and our kids did a great job.”

Oliver Bjorkstrand and Brendan Leipsec tallied for a Winterhawks team that couldn’t rally from a three-goal deficit in the third period for a second straight time in three seasons.

Tristan Jarry made his 21st consecutive start in goal for Edmonton and played brilliantly, making 32 saves, several of them big-time. After relieving Corbin Boes and backstopping Portland to their Game 6 overtime win, Brendan Burke got his first start in three weeks between the pipes for the Winterhawks and stopped 30 shots.

Oil Kings captain Griffin Reinhart was named MVP of the playoffs, and will now lead his team to London, Ont., for the Memorial Cup beginning this weekend.

Bjorkstrand put Portland ahead 1-0 at 4:42 of first, as the Winterhawks scored in the first five minutes for the fourth time in the series and potted the game’s first goal for a fifth time.

Edmonton responded strongly, however, appeared to tie the game on the power play at 11:27 with Lazar banging the puck in on a goalmouth scramble but after a lengthy review the goal was disallowed, ruled that it was directed in with a kicking motion.

Undaunted, Edmonton evened the score at 3:50 of the second when Moroz scored. The Oil Kings then went in front 2-1 with Lazar scoring short-handed at 9:02 of the second. Forty seconds later, Petryk beat Burke to make it 3-1 and leave the packed house of 10,095 stunned. Eller got Edmonton’s fourth goal of the period, finishing off a two-on-one with Luke Bertolucci at 17:17.

With Petryk in the box late in the third, Portland pulled Burke for the six-on-four advantage and Liepsic scored at 16:38 to cut the lead in half but that would be as close as the Winterhawks could get.

“We put what happened in Game 6 behind us, we were on a mission today, and we competed and it’s the best feeling in the world,” said Lazar.

2. Tristan Jarry- EDM - Made plenty of big saves to put the stamp on a spectacular post-season

3. Mads Eller, EDM - The Dane was flying all game and had goal and assist

GAME GRADES

OVERALL: A

Offence: A-

Defence: A-

Goaltending: A

Power Play: B+

Penalty Kill: A

Toughness: A

Effort: A

WHY OIL KINGS WON

Skill and smarts, and the confidence and composure to maximize them. They could have rolled over after yet again falling behind early and having a goal waved off, but instead got better as the game wore on, slowly taking control. over.

BIG SAVE

Tristan Jarry robbed Mathew Dumba who had scored on the Edmonton netminder twice in Game 6

BIG PLAY

Reid Petryk atoned for a bad penalty by muscling his way to the Portland net and lifting the puck over Brendan Burke